Driving Chronicles: A Tale of Four Countries

I have lived in three major cities in Nigeria, one city in the United Kingdom, one in Equatorial Guinea, and now in Toronto – Canada and the driving experience across these cities and countries are all unique with quite the tale to each city. Here’s a quick chronicle of my driving experiences (both as a driver and as a passenger) in no particular order, across these cities;

Lagos

Dubbed the “most populous” city in Africa and Nigeria, life in Lagos is for the fast-paced. A most recent population estimate places the total number of inhabitants in Lagos at approximately 14 million residents. Driving in this city is a chore! It is usually a tussle between intense road rage, getting stuck for hours unended in traffic, having your car totaled regularly, screaming at recalcitrant commercial vehicle drivers, motorists refusing to yield right of way, and general impatience all round. Blame it on the over-crowdedness of the city, but driving in Lagos “WILL” test your resolve, and make you question your sanity. I remember a shouting match I had once with a commercial bus driver who rudely cut me off without proper caution. I was so livid and this driver was nonetheless bothered by my rage. You need a certain level of attitude to drive in Lagos and I had that while I lived in Lagos for over a decade. It is usually one that has a mixture of patience (because you just might meet your match on the road) and madness (just because…). There was a popular inside joke that we Lagos drivers had; “if you can live and drive in Lagos, you can survive in any city of the world.”

Coventry

Coventry is a city in central England known for its medieval Coventry Cathedral. Though I did not get the chance to drive while I lived in Coventry for almost two years, I do recall my first thoughts of seeing left-hand driving in-person. It was a bit of a mini-mental shift for me, especially when you have been used to a particular pattern of driving. Like do you park on the left or right side of the road? Would left-handed drivers have a better hang of driving in the United Kingdom than right-handed drivers? As silly as these questions may seem, I never really got over the curiosity enough to want to drive while I lived in Coventry. Still, driving around in a city where there was respect for road signs and traffic laws was a joy for me, especially coming from the backdrop of Lagos road experiences. It is only on very rare occasions, like near-collision cases, would one hear a driver honk in Coventry, compared to London, the United Kingdom’s busiest and most populated city.

Toronto

The capital city of Ontario and a multi-cultural city, Toronto’s dynamic metropolis boasts of tall skyscrapers, great parks, and interesting sights to see. A densely populated city (in my opinion), and Canada’s commercial hub, Toronto also portrays similarities with New York City, where life is at a fast pace. Driving in the city of Toronto is also governed by strict adherence to road and traffic laws with fines attached to every possible flaunting of traffic rules. When I went in to take my knowledge test for my driver’s license, I was amazed at the specificity attached to the tests. You need to score 80% on both the road signs and regulatory part of the test to be issued a G1 license after which you can then progress to take the road tests. Unlike the Coventry city driving experiences, this felt more like home as driving here is right-handed. To do well on your road test, you should unlearn whatever driving experience you have from your home country because traffic regulations and road signs are highly respected and adhered to. While riding on the in-city streets or highways, you can oftentimes run into drivers who might cut you off rudely (especially during rush-hours), some honking of horns, and drivers who can be impatient [yes, a bit of a contrast to the warmth I have experienced meeting Canadians so far].

Ibadan

Popularly known as the “ancient city” life in Ibadan is less chaotic and slow-paced when compared to Lagos. The main tyrants on the roads of Ibadan are the taxi shuttles and commercial motorcycle drivers, who can stop while in high-speed motion to pick up passengers. I quickly learned while driving in Ibadan, during my almost three-year stay, that the rule to survive driving in this city was to avoid the service lanes and to consistently keep an extra safe distance, especially when behind commercial vehicles, as these drivers “OWN” the roads. Though traffic conditions here were not as complicated in comparison to Lagos, it is usually wise to keep your road rage in check with other drivers in this city, especially if you do not speak the local dialect. It will quickly escalate into a case of “you, against them.”

Abuja

Abuja is a beautiful city and the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria. As a metropolitan city, Abuja has good roads and traffic is a lot more controlled here, so it was a huge shock to keep bumping into somewhat impatient drivers. For the one-year that I got to drive on the streets of Abuja, I came to the fair conclusion that some of the private drivers probably needed a good scolding. The in-city roads and highways in Abuja come with large intersections and those within the city are often controlled by traffic lights (when they work), thus, it is usually advised to proceed with “EXTRA” caution when approaching an intersection irrespective of the traffic lights. There have been countless cases of avoidable collisions at intersections owing to driver impatience. They always seemed to be going for the gold medal of most brutal and devastating road collisions yet to be seen by man! I have often enthused that Abuja drivers could never survive driving in Lagos. If you think you are so much in a hurry to get to your destination as is the case with some Abuja motorists, you just need to spend one hour in traffic in Lagos. With better driving judgment and some patience, driving in Abuja can be a delight.

Malabo

The port city and capital of Equatorial Guinea, this city owes its rich architecture to its Spanish heritage. It is the only sovereign African state in which Spanish is an official language. With a population estimate of about 300,000 as of year-end 2018, you can imagine the ease of driving in such a city. Surprisingly, it is probably the first time I experienced strict compliance with traffic signs, especially yielding the right of way to pedestrians. The first time I got to use a pedestrian crossing in Malabo, I broke into a quick dash across the road as I had anticipated that motorists would be too impatient to stop. It was a rude shock when I realized that pedestrian “actually” did have the right of way (as it should be across the board. Side-eye to some other cities…) and motorists could be fined for refusing to yield. On the flip side, however, the roads in Malabo are regularly manned by law enforcement officers who conduct regular road stops and require drivers and passengers to provide their license, registration, and other forms of identification. This happened “ALL” the time and was quite frustrating for locals, but especially for foreigners who neither spoke Spanish nor the local dialects. Other than this inconvenience, driving on the streets of Malabo can be an exciting experience!

What are some of your driving experiences around the world? How intense are road and traffic laws and what is the level of compliance from your home country versus the experience driving in a different country? Feel free to share it in the comment section. I would love to read all about it!